The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) has received a parliamentary approval of Ghc 1,678.938,000.00 for the implementation of its programme of activities for the 2022 financial year as compared to Ghc 847,376,632.00 approved in 2021.
A joint report signed by both chairpersons of the Lands and Forestry and Mines and Energy committees of Parliament, Francis Manu-Adabor and Samuel Atta Akyea respectively on the annual budget estimates for the ministry indicated that Ghc 412,082,00 of the allocation will be expended on employees compensation, Ghc 1,005,509,000 on Goods and Services whiles Ghc 261,347,000 will be used for capital expenditure for the year under review.
According to the report which was approved by the House, the Government of Ghana’s (GoG) component of the total amount released to the ministry is Ghc , 778, 365,000.00, Internally Generated Fund (IGF) component is Ghc 859,859,116,000.00, Annual Budget Funding Amount(ABFA) is Ghc 22,000,000.00 whiles Donor Partner Funds (DPF) is Ghc 19, 457,000.00.
Achievements
The ministry in 2021 made some significant achievements through its three categorized sub-sectors namely, the Land sub-sector, the Forestry sub-sector and the Mining sub-sector.
Gains made in the forest sub-sector includes the establishment of 14,057 hectares of forest plantation, maintained 25,071 existing hectares, planted 7,193,424 seedlings, restored 3,631.90 hectares of poorly stocked forest reserves with high value indigenous timber species and educated a total of 52 schools and 148 communities on wildlife conservation.
In the Lands sub-sector, the Lands Commission as at September 2021 generated a total amount of Ghc 122.4 million out of its target of Ghc 181 million for the year, migrated multiple services to a web portal and so far digitalized all map sheets and property data in four districts within the Greater Accra region, the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands also mobilized Ghc 88,078,081 million against its target of Ghc 135,741,660 and opened five new revenue collection offices across the country- one in the Eastern, two in Upper East and one each in Ashanti and Savannah regions.
The mining sub-sector of the ministry in the year under consideration, facilitated the National Consultative Dialogue on small-scale mining, organized workshop for Judges and Magistrates on offences and penalties in the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019, Act 995, ensured adherence to the provisions of the local content law where 19 items on the procurement list were supplied by Ghanaian companies to mining firms and operationalised the Community Mining Schemes to promote responsible and sustainable mining and developed an operational manual to guide implementation of the scheme.
2022 Activities
Activities the ministry is expected undertake includes the implementation of the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood programme for small scale miners who were affected by the second phase of Operation Halt, planting of an estimated 20 million seedlings on June as part of the 2022 Green Day observation, support implementation of the ongoing National Afforestation Programme and support national efforts to combat galamsay.
The Lands and Natural Resources Ministry will also facilitate the passage of the Wildlife Resources Management Bill, facilitate processes for the ratification of 156 Timber Utilisation Contracts and undertake reclamation of degraded mined out areas in forest reserves.
Appeal to Finance Ministry
The committee appealed to the ministry of Finance to make additional funds available to the ministry’s agencies especially the Ghana Geological Survey Authority and the Ghana Boundary Commission to enable them perform their statutory functions during the year and beyond.
Mandate & Agencies of the Ministry
The mandate of the ministry is to ensure sustainable management and utilization of Ghana’s land, wildlife and mineral resources for socio-economic growth and development.
The land sub-sector agencies of the ministry include the Lands Commission, Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands and the Boundaries Commission whereas the forestry sub-sector includes Forestry Commission, the Wildlife Division, Timber Industry Development Division and the Plantation Development Fund Board. D
The mining sub-sector agencies are the Ghana Geological Survey Authority, Minerals Commission, the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) and the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC).
